CIN105Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Cahiers Du Cinéma, Science Fiction Film, Studio System
July 19, 2016
CIN LECTURE 19: AUTEURISM
• “The Lost World: Jurassic Park, for example, can be understood as a science fiction film
and compared with other such films just as easily as it can be considered a Spielberg film
and similarly compared with his other movies. No critical approach can tell us everything
about a film, but, rather, different approaches (such as formal, authorial, or genre) can
teach us different things about a film. Critical methods are not mutually exclusive and
may even be complementary at times,” – Lehman and Luhr
• trying to group things by the way they look and sound
• Case Study in Authorship Howard Hawks
• Voice of the director becomes important
• Many films (especially art films) are understood through authorship
• Authors largely dictate the hierarchies of film production
• Production is led by the director
• People go to see films because of who their directors are
• Post break-up of the studio system, in the 1970’s, producer became in charge of a film,
rather than the director
• Assumptions that have prevailed in the wake of Auteurism
The director is the chief creative talent behind any given film and thus can be
understood as that film’s author
Certain directors are able to present their view of the world so consistently that
they qualify for special status, that of the auteur
• Narrative and style used by directors is often consistent (quality is maintained)
• Auteur’s work must be perceived as presenting a specific point of view (one worldview)
• The publication of Francois Truffaut’s “A Certain Tendency of French Cinema” in 1954
was important
The practice of auteurist film criticism on the part of those writing for Cahiers du
Cinema throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s
Objection was that this type of film was more rooted in literature than in cinema
• Andrew Sarris’s popularization of what he called “Auteur Theory” in North America
codified what makes an auteur
• People were enamored with directors working in the 1930’s and 1940’s, during the
Hollywood studio era (directors weren’t supposed to be expressive and unique at this
time, but some did have a more specific style)
• David Bordwell: “As a critical enterprise, auteur analysis of the 1950’s and 1960’s
consisted of applying art-cinema reading strategies to the classical Hollywood cinema.”
• Alfred Hitchcock’s films were well-known and respected in Auteurism
• Some of Auteurism’s limitations (André Bazin, 1957)
It dismisses films that are not directed by auteurs (Ex. (auteurs) Rossellini,
Hitchcock, etc.)
It tends towards an attitude of “artistic infallibility” in the case of films (Ex. “I’d
rather go see the worst of an auteur’s films than the best of one who isn’t—it will
still be better than the one not created by one of the auteurs…”)
It establishes a priori assumptions concerning the evolution of talent
It devalues a film’s subject
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
No critical approach can tell us everything about a film, but, rather, different approaches (such as formal, authorial, or genre) can teach us different things about a film. The director is the chief creative talent behind any given film and thus can be understood as that film"s author. The practice of auteurist film criticism on the part of those writing for cahiers du. It dismisses films that are not directed by auteurs (ex. (auteurs) rossellini, It tends towards an attitude of artistic infallibility in the case of films (ex. I"d rather go see the worst of an auteur"s films than the best of one who isn"t it will still be better than the one not created by one of the auteurs ) It establishes a priori assumptions concerning the evolution of talent. If it assumes that simply having a worldview that gains expression is a mark of distinction. It fails to consider history, society, and technology.
